


Ignite

by daintylemonsquare



Series: Multi-fandom Night Circus Crossover [2]
Category: Glee, The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 18:26:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5712547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daintylemonsquare/pseuds/daintylemonsquare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the mysterious Circus of Dreams, there is a performer, a musical performer. A patron is taken immediately with her. Would he be able to catch her? Or would the circus take their chances away?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all I want to say that YES this is a fic I posted in FF.net years ago. YES, this is mine, I have the original word document to prove it. So please, refrain from accusing me of stealing from myself. Now that's out of the way, WELCOME. I've decided to repost and rewrite this fic here because I wanted to put all three of my Night Circus AU's into one universe ever since I had a Night Circus!Solangelo plot bunny bounce into my life. That's right! I've already posted the Methur one before this and they'll all be tied together. Don't worry, you don't have to read everything! Just read what you enjoy.   
> If you've read this fic before, I want to say HELLO FRIEND! Welcome back! I actually rewrote, I think, 10-15% of this. I hope you enjoy!

_Ohio, July 2002_

In a small town in Ohio, a circus stood almost dauntingly on what was once a blank space of grass. All around, even from the outlying towns, people went to see it. Its black and white tents were certainly different from the usual colors of a regular circus. Not only that, there was a sign up front that said _Opens at Nightfall, Closes at Dawn_. What kind of circus did that? The crowd seemed to ask as they surveyed its closed wrought-iron gates, its rippling tents, and its clock that followed the sky’s colors. They heard no sounds and saw no movement. All day, no matter how many times they “passed by”, they saw no one and nothing that proved that there was even life inside the tents at all. Trespassers were also threatened with bodily harm that would end with them drained of all their blood.

They just _had_ to visit the circus tonight.

By sunset, a large group of people – teenagers, adults, children, and people who called themselves _rêveurs_ (followers of the circus, dressed in either black or white, and wearing something red to separate themselves from the circus and performers) – stood by the gates. They watched in awe as it came to life in front of them. The lights on the gates began to sparkle. After some crackling and sizzling, some sparks and smoke, the light bulbs over the gate formed the sign in beautiful calligraphy. _Le Cirque des Rêves_ it said and the people began to clap before the gates opened on their own and the ticket booth was manned (or womanned, some may say).

“Le Cirque des Re – how do you even _say_ that?” A tall, mohawked boy asked as he looked up at the sign as the crowd thinned into the giant tents.

“It’s _Le Cirque des Rêves_ , Puckerman.” A high pitched voice said from behind him, sounding more annoyed than he actually should be. Quinn rolled her eyes as she approached with her boyfriend, Sam. Both of them were trailed by another boy, an obscenely tall and awkward one, who eyed the peculiar circus warily. “The Circus of Dreams.” Kurt finished with a quirked eyebrow.

“Tell me again _why_ we’re bringing Gay Face along?” Puck asked Finn, turning Kurt’s expression of annoyance to anger, stomping away to the circus, eager to get away from his step-brother’s idiotic friend.

“Dude, don’t be a jerk.” Sam chided, pulling Quinn away to the ticket booth. She looked miffed that she was near the guy at the moment.

Puck smirked, enjoying the reactions he was getting. Finn punched his arm lightly. “He’s my brother; I have to bring him around for some bonding…” He said, looking to the silhouette of Kurt in the short distance. “Plus, Dad made me.”

His friend snorted. “If we don’t get into each other’s way, I think the night’ll be grand.” Then he proceeded to go to buy some tickets. Finn trailed behind him. Puck tried to get in free by flirting with the ticket girl. Unfortunately for him, the girl just eyed them with a bored expression as if she was trying to convey “please stop embarrassing yourself, you’re holding up the line” with her eyes. After a couple minutes of Puck shamelessly flirting, and miserably failing, he paid for the ticket, promising to get back to her and entered the circus.

After a few seconds of walking through a black and white hallway, Puck opened the second curtain and was greeted by a beautiful sight – a white bonfire in a massive, black, intricately created, metal cauldron. He wasn’t a guy who gasped a lot – he could watch Schindler’s List without so much as an eye twitch – but the fact that it was a _white_ bonfire, a small intake of breath was called for.

“Wow.” Finn echoed his thoughts. They stayed in place to take it all in for a moment. The smell of certainly delicious food being sold around the courtyard, the sounds of people chatting and laughing, gasping and urging friends towards a particular tent to the left or the right, the sights of performers – fire dancers, moving statues, and the like (just small performers, the bigger ones have their own tents or halls), all wearing black and white, much like the circus – and from the distance they could spy Sam, Quinn, and Kurt entering another tent with a few of those black and white and red people. Puck patted Finn’s back and they shared a grin that said “let’s go check this place out!” They began running towards an open flap to another tent (more specifically, the trapeze tent).

* * *

Behind the scenes, in the places where the performers took breaks and mingled with their companions, a small girl gripped at her simple white dress consciously and ran her fingers through her newly blackened hair, feeling like she was about to vomit. It was a strange feeling, being nervous like this. She’d been performing since she found out how to form words. Rachel Berry _never_ got nervous.

Except for this.

Being actually accepted into the circus was a dream come true. She even met the elusive proprietor and his family! Not only that, she _befriended_ them! It was all so surreal the first few days of being in it, all the people, all the stories, all the impossibilities. She was happy she didn’t hesitate taking the job. She had been rehearsing for two straight weeks and her time to shine was here. She would be the only other member of the circus to open their mouth and actually communicate to the patrons aside from Poppet, who ran the fortune telling tent. Only she was singing. It was more of a one-way conversation.

She looked at one of the clocks nearby: _11:50._ All her insides felt like dropping out of her butt.

“You know it’s never like you to be nervous, Rach.” She jumped and screamed a little bit as Widget, Poppet’s twin brother, laughed. As Widget was co-owner, and Poppet was the proprietor’s sister, their family were the only ones allowed to keep their fair hair. He was two steps away from her, his graying red hair tucked into a stylish hat, clasping his hand on her shoulder. “You’ve done great in practice, everyone thinks so. And you’ve been performing since you were four – why so fidgety?”

“This is my big debut.” Rachel said, looking up at her friend. “I don’t want to mess it up.” She shook Widget’s hand off of her shoulder gently. She walked toward the open seam of the curtain of black and white and peeked through. “And there’re a lot of _rêveurs_ tonight too.” She whirled around and she frowned at his smirk. “What if they don’t like me?”

Widget snorted. “They’d be idiots not to like you.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes. Trust me. I’ve been around long enough to know what they’ll like. Why do you think you’re even here?”

Rachel blushed and grinned. “I’m going to hug you now.” Widget laughed and pulled her into a tight hug. “Thanks, Widge.”

“Sure thing, Rach.” He chuckled, patting her back. They stood side by side the next five minutes. Widget’s presence comforted Rachel’s nerves and as soon as the clock hands pointed to the twelve, she put on her performance attitude. She moved herself out of the folds of the circus, as if she was a part of the circus that came to life. She walked to her stage, which was in the center of the courtyard. There stood a microphone and below it, the speakers. _Rêveurs_ watched her with mild surprise. Never had they seen this girl in black heels and white dress, walking up the stage that used to house a number of different performers.

As she climbed, a small crowd gravitated towards her curiously. Was she really going to sing? That was certainly a first for the circus. They racked their heads, trying to remember if there was any mention of her type in the hundred-so years that the circus had been around, only to come up with blanks. She was new. That meant there were here on a momentous night! A first in a circus that hadn’t changed too much! Everyone agreed that this was an exciting addition. They waited with bated breath, wondering how this girl fit with the rest of the circus.

Rachel smiled and bowed her head modestly, acknowledging the audience. _Her_ audience. The music began and she opened her mouth to sing the first words.

* * *

“Dude, that place was _sick_!” Puck said as they walked out of The Cloud Maze (a maze of suspended cloudlike structures moving upwards, higher than the tent seemed to show outwardly). “And did you hear that _shriek_ Hummel made when I pushed him off?” He shook with laughter, reliving the memory of the look of sheer terror on Kurt’s face when he got pushed off one of the highest clouds. Luckily the bottom would cushion the fall. Still, Kurt stomped out and disappeared from them after showing Puck his middle finger.

Finn just rolled his eyes. He decided to tolerate his best friend’s attitude towards his step-brother in an attempt not to sour the night, at least for himself. Besides, he figured it was just all for fun. Kurt overreacted a little bit. “I’m going to get an earful after this, you know.”

Puck scoffed. “Who cares?”

The two went back to the courtyard, looking for these cinnamon twists everyone’s been eating around them. As they waited at the line, Puck noticed a certain gathering of people around something in front the massive cauldron of white fire. He couldn’t quite leave to check it out; it was just probably some stupid cat show like they saw earlier. Then there was music. He noticed two of those losers who follow the circus around look over their shoulders in shock, like they hadn’t heard music before. He saw them talk excitedly as they moved towards the crowd. He would admit, he was a little curious as to what they were so eager about. Just then, a voice filled the entire courtyard.

Everyone froze. Even the slow moving statues that surrounded the center circle stood very erect and facing the girl on the stage. All of them moved from different poses to face the stage during the last half hour towards midnight, aware of what was about to happen. She sang in a voice that captivated the audience at the first note. It wasn’t like anything they’d heard before. The song was a slow one, a Broadway classic that some heard before and most hadn’t. She chose the song herself; she’d been singing that song since she first heard it. The rest of her songs for her fifteen-minute debut show were chosen by a few circus members. The _rêveurs_ watched her with wide grins of approval. This new addition to the circus was amazing! She had a voice like no other and the song choice was spot on! And, in typical circus fashion, her voice drew the crowd into her bubble, filling their heads with nothing more than her voice.

As the crowd grew and their expressions lit up, Rachel began to sing with a little more conviction than before.

Puck was mesmerized by the girl on stage. He had forgotten about his cinnamon twist, no matter how delicious the first bite was. He didn’t even look at her like he would usually look at a girl (which was either boobs or ass). His eyes were transfixed at her entirety, the dress, the way she held the mic stand, her strange expressions, the way she stood. It was only when she stopped singing in between songs to bow a little that Puck began eyeing other parts of her body. It wasn’t a very impressive rack but it was decent. And her legs were amazing for someone so tiny.

“She’s amazing.” Finn whistled and clapped before the performer began singing the next song.

“I saw her first.” Puck said, masking his severe possessive voice with a grin and a playful shove on his friend’s shoulder. They watched intently as the nameless performer sang song after song after song. She varied from Broadway classics to contemporary favorites that kept her audience wanting. But when she finally finished her all too brief set, she backed away from the microphone and she bowed deeply. She was met with more applause which she basked in for a moment before climbing down the stairs.

Puck only had short amount of time to collect his thoughts before he realized _Crap! I have to talk to her!_ He didn’t even say anything to Finn; he just bolted around the crowd. He jogged with his head stretched to spy the girl in the crowd.

There she was, walking away with a few people eyeing her with appraising eyes. Puck hastened his gait as he checked out her backside, which was really perky, making up for her only just decent boobs. “Hey!” He called when he neared her but she didn’t seem to hear. She was still grinning to herself. She couldn’t believe she just performed on that stage. “Hey, Singer Girl!” He cupped his hands around her mouth, and again she didn’t hear. He saw her disappear behind a fold in the circus and when he reached the place, there wasn’t a seam in sight. He groaned, frustrated at the freakishness of the circus. He kicked the fabric and turned away. He was going to get his chance soon. Besides, the circus had to stay for a while. It wasn’t just going to be there one night and disappear the next.

He mulled over her voice again (and surprisingly not the positions he was going to take her), wondering what’d it be like to sing with her.

“Did you get to talk to her?” Finn asked when Puck came back.

“No.” Puck sighed and turned his head to the side of the circus she disappeared to. “But I intend to.”

* * *

There was scattered applause when Rachel came back into the inner workings of the circus, making her giggle and curtsey. “Well done, Berry!” Melissa Clarke, one of the more voluptuous trapeze girls, and Bailey and Poppet’s eldest child, pulled her into a tight hug. “You practically had them eating out of the palm of your hand.” Rachel was tossed around a bit, earning praise from the others. She felt more welcomed than she did the first day Bailey introduced her as an addition. She was certainly abuzz with glee, from the applause she got while she was on stage to the praise she got from her fellow circus people. Rachel Berry had a wonderful first night and she couldn’t wait for her next slot (three in the morning, in which she would be serenading the people walking by, she knew there wouldn’t be much of an audience but she didn’t really mind), as well as the following nights. But for now, she had a three-hour break that she’ll use to talk about her first night with Melissa over some herbal tea.

As the clock began to move to two AM, Puck and his friends walked out of the circus, yawning. The whole night drained them out completely and they couldn’t wait to get back to their houses and rest. “You should’ve heard her!” Puck said to Quinn, Sam, and Kurt while they walked away to the general direction of their houses, which were thankfully near circus grounds. “She had an amazing set of pipes; it was easily the best thing about that circus.”

“That’s the same thing you said about the animated paper animals.” Quinn pointed out. “Especially after the dragon shaped one spewed fire.”

“And the magic show we went to afterwards.” Kurt added.

Puck waved them off. They were right, the paper animals and the magic show were pretty freakin’ awesome but there was just something about the girl who sang on stage that got stuck deep in Puck’s head, which was strange since just singing and no stripping wouldn’t usually stick in his head for long. “I’m telling you, we should watch her sing again.”

“Alright, alright.” Sam chuckled, amused by his eagerness. “We’ll go back tomorrow. I want to anyway, that circus just makes me want to go back for more. And we’ll wait for her at midnight.”

Of course, she wasn’t there the next day. Due to the nature of her performance, she had a limited number of slots during the week. She would only appear at midnight and two or three times a week, and appear at five AM during the weekends, right before the circus would close, as if to wish the patrons good morning with two beautiful ballads. During those times she wasn’t there, she would help cook the treats the vendors would sell or she would watch some shows from the backstage. Puck didn’t know that, so he waited all weekend, giving up as soon as it was one AM, figuring the nameless girl wasn’t worth waiting for _that_ long. Being the ever so slightly thick headed jock that he was, he didn’t notice the small sign that signified Rachel’s schedule on the other side of the stage.

* * *

“I think you have an admirer.” Bailey, the proprietor, commented as he peeked through the folds of the tent. Rachel stopped mid-heel-onto-foot maneuver and he chuckled, looking into the distance again. “I’ve seen him a few times. He’s been hovering around your stage all weekend. He never does stay long enough to catch you though.” By now, Rachel was standing behind Bailey, looking over his shoulder.

An admirer! She couldn’t believe it! A complete first! No one ever liked her at school. They called her clothes ugly whenever they could spare a breath and her type-A personality alienated mostly everyone after the first week of school. Having someone _admire_ her was a good confidence boost. Then her mind went overdrive, thinking of that admirer, the number one fan, so to speak. Then she thought about that person being there all the time but kept their distance because they didn’t want to come out as a stalker though they were nearing that level. And then she would sign their paper or something and they would do everything they could not to faint and flail. “Where?” She asked, excited to see someone who she will call “fan”.

“The guy with the mohawk.” Bailey said.

Rachel’s face fell a smidgen but decided a fan could take many forms. “I don’t think of him as the type.” She said, sounding somewhat hesitant. She’d been singing mostly showtunes and pop ballads. He looked more of the type that went for country or punk or rock.

“Well, sometimes the patrons are just as mysterious as the circus itself.” Bailey chuckled and patted her shoulder. She smiled up at him and looked out to the boy again. He was standing near the stage amidst the crowd. He turned to a girl beside him and started talking. She looked partly amused, partly annoyed. She must be the girlfriend and he was showing her around.

“You’ve got three minutes, Rach.” Bailey said before leaving. She nodded and turned back to survey the boy and his girlfriend. Just then another boy appeared beside the girl, wrapping an arm around her. Mohawk boy punched his arm and they laughed at some unheard joke.

He was gorgeous.

Rachel almost missed her cue.

She walked out of the circus folds, looking confident, nodding to her fellow performers as she made her way to the stage. There was applause as soon as the audience noticed her approaching the stage. Her eyes locked with who Bailey called her “admirer” and they were very lovely eyes. She barely broke eye contact until he grinned and winked at her. She flushed immediately and she focused on her walk to the stage. She inclined her head as she always did before the music started and she began to sing.

Performing at _The Circus of Dreams_ was the best thing that could ever happen to her. Sure, her fame wouldn’t be one in tabloids or TV but this was just as good. She’d been to the circus many times when she was younger (her fathers were somewhat _rêveurs_ themselves) and she envied the people who performed there – that they could be with the circus at all times and talk to the other performers and maybe even watch the illusionist do some tricks in private. She still couldn’t believe that she joined the circus. Never would she have ever thought that one rainy night while she was doing part-time singing for a summer job in a dodgy little café that the proprietor, his wife, and brother-in-law would approach her and ask her if she could perform in the circus.

“Stop trying to peek up her skirt.” Quinn whispered as Rachel lowered her head in a modest little bow as she neared the end of her set.

“You would try if you were a guy, with a skirt like that.” Puck retorted, not taking his eyes off of the Rachel’s legs. She didn’t walk close enough to the edge of the stage for him to give him the chance, but he was content with her legs. This was familiar to Puck. The first time he saw her perform, he barely thought about anything else apart from her song. Now he knew that if he stared at her legs long enough, he would be his old self again.

He did, however, find his vision tunneling back to her face, her mouth, her voice at some point.

“You’re such a perv.” Quinn rolled her eyes.

“Hey, at least I didn’t bring you here by telling you ‘hey I saw this girl with nice legs, let’s go watch her’.” He countered.

“That makes you less of an asshole, but doesn’t change who you are.”

For her last song, she sang a sad, slow one, from a musical that Puck was _sure_ Gay Face talked about at some point in time, to which he threw a pie at his face. (Not the whole pie though because it would be such a waste.) It was something French – the musical, not the song. She sang in a way that the emotions flowed from her beautiful melody and straight into everyone’s hearts. Puck watched her look at the crowd with eyes that glistened with unshed tears. _Why was she crying?_ Puck thought to himself and wondered if she was singing this song about someone in her past. (In reality, she could just cry on cue. She thought it would add to the effect. Also, she cried when she sang emotional songs like this, which she does every other night since she started.)

Puck felt a small pang of jealousy that he shooed off easily. Then her eyes landed on his just as the song began to pick up a bit of tempo, probably nearing the end or a high note. He stared back, trying to win her over with his eyes because chicks dug that. She continued singing, her eyes still glassy and intense. Puck found himself a bit shell shocked that this tiny little number right in front of him shot back one of his best tactics. _Oh she’s good._ He thought. _But…_ He grinned at her and she looked away immediately to belt out a high note. Puck had to hand it to her; she gave a pretty mean high note. He didn’t even think about its applications in the bedroom.

The crowd cheered as Rachel took her bows. Someone threw a flower to the stage, a pretty white daisy, probably coming from the girl in her father’s arms, grinning up at her. She nodded at her and picked up the daisy as a sign of thanks. Without another word, she twirled around and walked down the stage. The crowd slowly dispersed as she walked away. She was feeling rather famous at the moment, holding the daisy, reliving the cheers she got, and loving the spectacular exit she was doing – of _course_ someone had to ruin it.

“Hi there.” Puck stood right in front of her, making her stop before she walked right into him. She looked up and he still had that stupid attractive grin he flashed her with earlier. She opened her mouth but then she closed it, knowing the rules. She side stepped him and soldiered on to the fold she was to disappear to. She tried to walk faster but he had longer legs so the effort was completely useless.

“Hey, I’m just trying to talk.” He obviously didn’t understand the whole “we don’t talk” thing the circus had. She tried very hard not to glare or roll her eyes since he was a patron – a fan. She didn’t want to be rude to either kind of person. “I get it, you don’t talk but I would like to take you out sometime – so we can talk and then maybe get to know each other more.” Oh that smirk made it _very_ hard for Rachel to resist. Was he seriously flirting with her? The experience was a new. “C’mon, at _least_ tell me your name.” He _was_ flirting! An attractive male was _flirting_ with her! _Suck on that, Santana Lopez._ She thought triumphantly.

Although her mind was rejoicing this prospect, her body was awkward and desperate to get away from the intimidating boy. She spied an opening in the circus folds to her right. She looked up at those eyes again and for a moment, she debated what she was going to do. She couldn’t just _talk_ to him. What would she say? _Something stupid or dull, I figure._ She was at a loss in a situation like this, so she decided to run and ask for advice from Poppet for the time being. She faked left, making the boy turn immediately, anticipating it. She then scurried to the right, careful not to trip on her heels and disappeared right as the boy turned to see her do so.

“Damn.” He kicked the ground, glaring at the fluttering wall she disappeared into. It wasn’t like he couldn’t just replace her. That was as easy as pie (not that he knew how to bake pie). But now that she ran away from him, refused to talk to him, and just stared at him with those adorable brown eyes, Puck couldn’t take that lying down. He simply _had_ to get her to talk (and then probably bed her) as soon as possible. She was a challenge and he was _oh-so_ willing to take it.

“Didn’t get to talk to her?” Sam asked, him and Quinn both grinning at a dejected looking Puck who walked towards them with hands in his pockets.

“Yet,” Puck said with a cheeky half-smile, “I didn’t get to talk to her _yet_.” He turned to look at the place she disappeared. “But I’ll get to her sooner or later.”

“You like this girl a lot, don’t you?” Quinn smirked as they moved away from the empty stage and toward what other people called the Stargazer, something that was only open on clear nights like tonight.

Puck scoffed. “No I don’t _like_ her. She’s just a challenge, and I enjoy a good little challenge like her.”

* * *

On the train where all their rooms were, Rachel twirled her daisy absently as Melissa combed her hair for her. “Are you having a marvelous time in the circus, Rachel?” She asked as she smiled at Rachel’s reflection. The question went a little unheeded as Rachel stared at the flower and couldn’t help but remember those eyes of that boy.

“Rachel?” Melissa asked again, concerned.

“What?” Rachel looked at the reflection and Melissa smiled.

“Something distracting you, my dear?” She asked, stroking her hair gently.

“…No.” She said slowly, glancing at the flower before placing it back into its tiny vase. “You asked me something?”

Melissa laughed. “Yes, I did… But you seem to have something else in mind.” She leaned down and grinned. “Is it that admirer?”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Did Bailey tell you?”

“Of course. So did Mum. And Uncle Widget.” She winked and Rachel groaned. “Don’t act so surprised. Nothing concerning the circus eludes them. Now tell me everything.” She moved to face Rachel and sat on the dresser, looking very much like a mother that Rachel never had.

“He was hot.” Rachel answered, shrugging, like it was very insignificant. Melissa kept on grinning, making Rachel giggle and eventually laugh. “God! His eyes, Mel! They were gorgeous. And those muscles under his shirt! I’m _sinning_ just thinking about it!” The two ladies gushed about the boy with the mohawk. As she continued to talk, Rachel felt a little less troubled by his existence and his earlier attempt to talk to her. It was nice having someone to share it with. She didn’t know how long they talked but soon, there was a knock on Rachel’s door and she gave the permission to enter. Bailey and Poppet peeked in with a sleepy grin.

“Hey ladies.” Bailey said.

“Love, I think Rachel needs her rest at some point.” Poppet said. “You do too.”

Melissa rolled her eyes before inclining her head to kiss Rachel’s hair. “I know. After all, what’s a nocturnal circus if its inhabitants stay awake in the morning as well, hm?” She stood up and walked to the door. “Good morning, Rachel.”

She never did get used to that after a while in the circus. “Good morning, you three.” The Clarkes left the room and Rachel reached over to turn off the lights that surrounded her dresser and promptly dropped herself to bed.

Outside, after Melissa told her parents everything – nothing that concerned the circus eluded them – Bailey and Poppet walked to their room, hand-in-hand. “Her admirer tried to talk to her after her first set.” She said after a moment of silence.

“He did, did he?” Bailey replied curiously, opening the door of their room, gesturing for Poppet to enter first. She laughed and curtseyed before entering the room. Even after the turn of the century, some habits persisted.

“Yes, he did.” She asserted. “I think it’s absolutely sweet. It reminds me of this one boy I knew all these years ago.” She shot him a sly smile as he untied his tie. He smiled back. Still young looking even if his age greatly surpassed his looks (same with her), which meant the spell surrounding the circus was as strong as ever. She walked towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. He pressed a quick kiss on her head. “A boy who was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.”

Bailey laughed at the memory. “Do tell.” They looked at themselves at the round mirror nearby, eyes shimmering in memories from so many years ago. Slipping through the gates, getting lost in the inner workings of the circus, bumping into each other, the glove, the dare… It was a long time ago but Bailey and Poppet remembered it like it was yesterday. Their still youthful faces shared a look through the mirror’s reflection – nostalgia. “Was he a strapping young fellow that swept you away? A fierce, brave faced boy that didn’t care he was somewhere he wasn’t allowed?”

Poppet laughed. “No, he was a tiny thing that stole one of my gloves and grew up to tend sheep.” Very minute lines appeared near Bailey’s eyes from smiling too broadly. She hugged him tighter. “But he was very nice to me. And very nice to the circus.”

“I bet he was.” He held one of Poppet’s hands and twirled her in a slow circle before making her stop right in front of him. He leaned down to press their lips together quickly. Poppet made a small, happy sound, like a short combination of a sigh and a chuckle with her mouth closed. “Do you think this boy is good for Rachel?”

“We shall see, shan’t we?”

* * *

Puck followed the next couple of performances now that he knew her schedule. (Quinn pointed out the sign as he complained, “how am I supposed to make her want me when I don’t even know when the hell she’s going to come out of the damned circus?”)

He tried all he could to talk to her, try to make her go out with him for a cup of coffee, breakfast, maybe a quick make out session at the Ice Garden tent, or even a nice stroll into that Labyrinth thing that just didn’t seem to end with those doors and rooms. But no matter what he did (he gave her a bouquet of roses after one of her performance) or said (“You’re hot, I’m hot, we should totally make out”) the singer didn’t do much except blush, glare a little, and chuckle at his advances. It _exasperated_ him. If he couldn’t get the power performer at a silly (but completely amazing) circus, how can he face the other girls in the city? He couldn’t. Therefore, if he could just get one kiss, a few sentences that indicated that she had the hots for him too, he would proceed to get on with his life. And he had one last plan up his sleeve.

It wasn’t like Rachel wasn’t _attracted_ to her so-called “admirer”. In fact, she was _very_ attracted to him, even if he was a bit crude and improper and perverse. She was sure there was a soft interior under all of that intense cover of masculinity. She hoped, really. He could’ve been a raving, murderous lunatic but if life taught her anything, it was to be optimistic.

There were two things hindering them, though. For one, the circus was leaving soon and it would be _way_ too long until they go back to Ohio that was for sure, so she didn’t want to get too attached. For another, she really didn’t know how to respond exactly. All she could think of during those attempts were “walk, walk, walk, walk, wow his arms are lovely, walk, walk, walk, do I say something, walk, walk, walk, where’s that fold, walk, walk, walk, damn it Berry, say something, walk, walk, walk, _escape_ , breathe, wow you’re an idiot.”

She just couldn’t do it. What if she said something foolish? What if the moment she opened her mouth he would turn tail and decided she wasn’t worth any of his attention? The thing was, she was far too afraid of these mostly improbable possibilities that the moment she got the courage to speak up, she was already behind circus fabric. Melissa and her younger sister, Erin, both agreed she was insane as they rode the Stargazer one night, looking up at the beautiful night sky as they went on a slow circle inside a carriage that laid down slowly when the ride started. The other two Clarkes, Julian and Celia, agreed. Then everyone agreed. It was embarrassing. She promised herself the next time he tried, she would talk to him.

And she would have no choice, in fact.

Rachel was in the middle of her second to the last number and she was a little disappointed when she didn’t see mohawk boy among the audience. Had he finally given up because she was too skittish to talk? She was convinced this was the case.

Even if she disliked feeling it, she felt sad that he wasn’t there to see her during her last performance in Ohio. But she continued to smile for her current audience; some familiar faces flitted by her vision. She bathed in their cheers and inclined her head slightly. Just as the next few notes of the last song started playing, someone jumped onto the stage, jolting her, making her nearly scream. A strong hand steadied her and she looked up to see the mohawk boy.

“Hey, babe.” He winked. “Thought you might like some help with your last song tonight.” She looked down and was surprised to see a guitar in his hand. Just then, Celia, with her hair all pinned up into a black cap, scurried through the crowd, grinning madly as she brought an extra microphone stand. But it wasn’t for the boy himself, it was for his guitar. She adjusted the height of the stand. The boy looked taken aback – this wasn’t part of the plan but he was glad that the girl’s circus friends liked the idea of a surprise double act. He plucked his strings and it was heard loud and clear. The crowd looked up with surprised and expectant expressions.

Puck started playing a song, an old, famous _Queen_ song that he was sure everyone was at least familiar with, even her. He saw the recognition in her eyes and his smile grew wider as he sang the first words into their shared microphone. After a quick instrumental with his adept guitar playing, she chimed in with her perfect voice. She nodded at him whenever she wanted him to sing and he sang, feeling quite happy to be given the opportunity.

Their voices blended seamlessly, in Puck’s opinion. And she was more beautiful up close. As if her voice didn’t give him chills before, being just a step away made him want to shudder every time she hit a note and her voice quavered as she held it for a moment. And he was happy to see that she looked like she was enjoying herself with the impromptu number. They finished the song with a grand flourish of vocal prowess. The crowd cheered for them and they turned to each other, panting. They smiled.

Puck offered his hand as people threw flowers to the stage. She barely hesitated and grabbed the bigger hand. The energy that thrummed between the two of them as they sang collided and Puck felt his head filling up with rose colored air. He raised her hand up as high as she could reach and they bowed. He heard her giggle and sounded like the best damn giggle he’s ever heard – and he heard a _lot_ of giggles in his life. He helped her gather the flowers and he walked her towards her fold.

As he was handing her the rest of her flowers, he said, “Name’s Noah Puckerman, you call me Puck.”

“Rachel Berry.” She said and it was nice to finally know her name. At the sound of her speaking voice, Puck’s heart smashed into his chest once before calming down. Easy enough to ignore but it was enough to throw him off. “Pleased to meet you, Noah.” Even when she was speaking, she had a certain musical twang that he didn’t want to delve into because it made his head swim with these cheesy things he heard from movies his mom and sister made him watch. Aside from that, she called him Noah. Only his mom and nana called him that. He wasn’t complaining.

“Do you wanna go talk somewhere, I don’t know, more private?” He said with a suggestive wiggle of the eyebrow.

Rachel giggled, looking up at him. “Sure. Meet me outside the circus in a few minutes. I have to put these into a vase.” She hefted the bunch of assorted flowers in her arms. She turned to go but Puck held her arm, gentle but firm. She laughed. “Let me go, Noah.”

“Only if you give me a kiss.” Puck grinned, making Rachel want to bury her face in the flowers from all the butterflies causing giggles to bubble in her throat.

“I just met you.” She retorted.

“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugged. “Kissed loads of girls before and I didn’t even know their names yet.” Rachel smacked her bunch of flowers on his arm. He let her go. Sometimes he knew when to take a hint. Rachel disappeared into the circus, giggling like a fool. Puck fist pumped into the empty air and left to wait outside.

The next day, Puck was standing in front of an empty expanse of land that bore no mark that the circus was even there last night. Like the circus itself was just a dream that everyone had and enjoyed and it was time for them to wake up. A few people stood around the land, bewildered, wondering where the circus was and how it left without any of them noticing. He could almost see himself sitting by the sidewalk with Rachel.

She in an outfit that his nana would’ve picked out for his sister, he was had his guitar on his lap. They were just talking the night away until her next slot at three in the morning. Puck hadn’t done that in a very long time. Rachel rebuffed everything he suggested they do, insisting that she couldn’t do anything more with someone she didn’t know. Somehow, this convinced Puck to stick around. He was curious about her. He was curious about how the _rêveurs_ reacted when she first appeared. He was curious about the circus. If he wasn’t going to get satisfied physically, at least he would have his questions satisfied.

Rachel didn’t do a good job answering all the questions about the circus but, and this was hard to swallow, Puck enjoyed listening to her talk. He let her talk about her life prior to the circus. She talked about why she wanted this. She admitted that she did like Puck, even though he was a little off-putting with some of his advances.

And she told him this, the disappearing act, would happen. That, when he woke up, they wouldn’t be there anymore. What sucked more was that he tried to kiss her before she made him stop just to tell him the news. He wasn’t sad. Puck didn’t _do_ sad, especially not over a girl. He just simply refused to believe that she was the one to make him feel this way only to have her leave. He simply refused to feel anything outside his regular circle of feeling. It just sucked. It sucked so badly. But there was nothing he could do about it. Unable to look at the empty space anymore, he turned around and walked away.

Puck didn’t do regret either.

Somewhere in a train, an impossible train, in the countryside, Rachel sat by the window, watching the sun rise from the horizon. She couldn’t sleep. She didn’t feel like sleeping. She just kept thinking about Noah ( _Puck, he insisted, I don’t know why, Noah is such a nice name_ ) and how they almost kissed and that expression he had when she told him that the circus was leaving. It was like telling a kid Christmas was cancelled. It gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She relented, reminding herself that Noah would get over her quickly and _she_ should do the same. With that, she pulled the blinds of her window and plunged her room into semi-darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

_New York, October 2005_

“Got somewhere you need to be, Puckerman?”

A man with a mohawk that still suited him well turned around from the clock and grinned at his boss. He grew a few inches the last three years, had a few hundred conquests, and saved enough money to move to New York just to get out of that hick town to see if he could gain financial stability through his guitar. He ended up getting a job at a café, blandly called _Sip It_ , where he earned extra whenever they perform for the customers. The coffee was crap, but the cakes and the performers were good, which is why they even _had_ customers. Puck was a favorite, to nobody’s surprise.

“I asked you a question.” His boss said again as he walked behind the counter to deliver the last tray of dirty dishes to the kitchen.

“Didn’t you hear? The circus is in town!”

The circus stood, black and white and clock and all, right outside city limits, where there was enough grass and free space to go around. It was about an hour walk from Puck. Twenty minutes if he took a cab. He was feeling rather extravagant that night, so he took the cab.

Even in the dim light, he could see the outline of the circus as the cab neared its destination. A familiar exhilaration from way back when returned and he wondered if anything changed. When the cab stopped and he got out, he looked up at it, from top to bottom as if he could spot a different from there. He didn’t think he was going to see _The Circus of Dreams_ ever again, not since Ohio. It went to better places – London, Beijing, New Delhi, Hawaii – so Puck thought that its arrival in his hometown was a fluke. Meeting Rachel Berry and, though he wouldn’t admit it, admiring Rachel Berry was part of the punchline.

Since he came to New York, he figured it was a matter of time before the circus visited. In the two years he lived here would miss it by a couple of days for one reason or another – work, minor trouble with the law, woman trouble, boyfriend-who-he-honestly-didn’t-know-about trouble. But _now_ , now nothing had him on a leash short enough that he couldn’t go visit a circus. Visit a singer.

Not that Puck kept tabs on her. He would _occasionally_ catch news about the circus and he would _casually_ see the name the article had used to refer to her. That was how he knew she was still out there.

Puck filed in with the other patrons and he was surprised to still see those people in black, white, and red, wondering why that was still a thing after all those years. He figured it was a fad that would’ve died in a little less than a year.

Inside, he was assaulted by the same visuals, the same smells, the same sounds. All the same but imperceptibly different and amazing too. The circus hardly changed, Puck still felt like he entered an imaginative child’s dream. He walked around alone, flirting for some free chocolate mice along the way. He watched a few shows and went into some tents. He visited the Cloud Maze and reminisced about that short couple of weeks with Finn and the others. He even actually kinda missed Gay Face – _I mean Kurt_ – too. While he was lying on one of the highest clouds, he checked his watch then promptly rolled over, plummeting to the bottom.

Who had time to find a way to climb down when it was nearly midnight?

Puck got to the courtyard on the dot and people were already standing around the stage. He smiled at it. Before he could approach the stage to snag a good spot where she could see him as clearly as he could see her, the music suddenly filled the entire tent. People jumped with surprise. Puck tensed up at the surge of music. It didn’t come from just the stage anymore; it came from all over. He looked around for speakers but he didn’t find any in his line of sight. He was not alone in this search. And they were looking for the performer, who seemed to be missing from the stage. Then there it was – an abrupt intake of breath and the first words of the song. A light shone at one side of the circus folds, which flew apart to reveal the same tiny singer in a black dress and a white sash around her waist. Puck noticed her new bangs. It was one of those energetic Broadway sounding numbers that she obviously had a fondness for.

Rachel strutted out of the folds as they fell dramatically. She already had the crowd captivated, easier than before, Puck noted. She certainly had more charisma now and the song choice was spot on. She played with the crowd as she sang, singing to some kids watching her, handing them some sweets. She even twirled some guy’s hair, winking at him before she was off to entertain others. She sang the song like she was just talking to people, going up to them like they were friends catching up, like she was this salesperson trying to get them to buy something. He knew she’d gotten better but it was something else to witness. Puck had to admit, it was pretty hot.

She wove through patrons as the spotlight followed her easily (he didn’t know how it was doing that). As she neared the end of the song, she started climbing up her stage as she belted out jaw-dropping high notes. And boy did this song have a lot of high notes. But she did them properly, beautifully, steadily. Her voice made several shivers run up and down Puck’s spine and arms. The applause started before the song ended.

When it did, she was winded, panting on stage. She maintained a huge grin on her face. Puck walked near the stage, as near as he could get with all those people already there. He clapped as well. Rachel saw him in the audience and he didn’t think she’d recognize him but when they locked eyes, her grin faltered for a short moment, like she didn’t really think it was him. Then her smile grew wider and she gave him a short nod of acknowledgement. Puck winked, glad she still knew him.

Rachel’s set extended for five more minutes, which wasn’t really much. Then again she was singing nonstop. Her song choices broadened slightly, adding more flare to the whole thing. Time to time she would glance to Puck’s direction and they would always have eye contact. Puck hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she noticed him.

Rachel felt feelings she hadn’t really felt since she last saw Puck. She didn’t think she was going to see him ever again. And she thought she felt _too_ glad to see him now. He still had that silly mohawk on. On other men it might’ve looked boyish and immature but on him it looked very sexy. When she found herself thinking that, she _had_ to look away, like he could see her thinking about it just by looking at her.

 _He’s a distraction, Berry. Head in the performance!_ She shook her head subtly and turned her attention away from Puck for the time being.

She knew she had gotten better (which surprised even her because she honestly thought it wasn’t going to get any better than _that_ ) and she reveled in it – in the louder cheers, the thundering claps, the emotion she was able to invoke to her audience. She had lived for the stage all her life and the circus was definitely her favorite.

The moment she stepped off her stage, away from the flowers and cheers and people insisting for an encore, Puck was there, grinning at her. This action elicited murmurs of intrigue between the patrons. But Rachel smiled readily and walked toward her next destination, behind circus folds. Puck followed her.

Rachel expected him to say something flirtatious or pull her close to him, not that she would’ve minded if they’d actually _had_ anything over the years. They didn’t. Puck wasn’t hers or vice versa, so she kept a healthy distance.

“Noah.” She said with a smile.

“Rachel.” He half-mocked, smirking. “You’ve gotten better. And prettier.” Women like Rachel Berry wanted to have their diligence in their craft validated. Puck learned that the hard way when he dated this artist several months prior. And it wasn’t like he was being insincere. Rachel _did_ get better. It didn’t matter what his intentions were.

Not that he knew himself either.

Rachel buried her face into the bouquet she was carrying. “Thank you. You are less… forward than I remembered.”

Puck shrugged. “What can I say? Growing up does that to you. I will say that circus life has treated you well.” His eyes wandered downward, once again thanking his genes for his height, before he looked away. This wasn’t lost to Rachel.

“Ah, and there it is.” She chuckled as they reached the fold she was to disappear into. Puck frowned and kicked himself.

“Sorry.” He mumbled.

“You’re only apologizing because you got caught.” She half-teased, half-scolded.

Puck sighed but decided to press on. Momentary lapse in judgement, that was all it was. People were watching them as if they were the strangest attraction in the entire circus. Rachel hardly spoke to anyone after her performance so seeing her with Puck was going to make people talk. “People are watching.” She said through her teeth.

“So? People watch you all the time.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Smart ass.”

“Always am, sweetheart.” He retorted. “So, will you give me the absolute pleasure of touring me around the circus? It’s been a while since I went. I’ll buy you a cinnamon twist.”

Rachel laughed. “I could make those on my own, thank you.” Before his smile could diminish completely, she said, “I have to ask permission first. Will you wait for me or will you sweep another unsuspecting young woman off her feet?”

“Like I did to you?” He cocked an eyebrow. Rachel scoffed, hit him with the bouquet, and walked through the fold. Puck was about to follow her only to find that the flap she went into had melted together with the rest of the tent. He huffed and spun on his heels to wait by the bonfire.

Rachel received Bailey’s permission before she even got through her well-rehearsed speech. It was both annoying _and_ relieving. She lost no time going to her room and changing out of her circus costume. The patrons would know it was her but she just couldn’t go out there with her costume – that would be _ghastly_. When she looked at herself in the vanity, she sighed. Having been in the circus hadn’t improved her casual wardrobe much. She thought about it as she smoothed down a plaid skirt and straightened her red sweater. But it was as good as it was going to get. Besides, she knew her legs were her best physical asset, so the shorter the skirt, the better. She giggled to herself when she thought of it. The mere notion of seduction, however mild it might’ve been, was so exhilarating since she hadn’t done it much, even as an adult.

Rachel met him right in front of the white bonfire. He was holding an empty wrapper of a cinnamon twist. She smiled as she approached him, stopping a foot away. “Noah.” She said and he turned, swallowing the half-eaten cinnamon twist in his mouth.

Puck looked at her up and down. It wasn’t the best choice of clothes, he had to admit, but on her it looked pretty damn good. It also showed off her legs so he didn’t really mind. He _did_ have to be careful not to look down too much. There might’ve been a three-year gap but if he stared at her legs for too long, he had a feeling Rachel would slap him. “Hey.” He said, grinning now, sure that his teeth weren’t covered in cinnamon chunks. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and began to walk to the illusionist’s tent. “C’mon the show starts in a while. There are still a couple of chairs in the back.” By now, a considerable number of people were watching them, the singer and the patron walking around with the patron’s arm around the singer’s shoulders. Neither of them cared.

“Oh fun!” She clapped a little, still giddy from the amazing set she just did a few minutes ago and the fact that Puck had his arm around her. “I love Merlin’s shows; I watch them while I can manage.”

“His name is seriously Merlin?” Puck chortled, steering her to the direction of the tent.

“Yes. Yes it is.” She replied. “We’re really good friends.”

“Should I be worried?” Puck teased, knowing from Rachel’s smile that he shouldn’t. And Rachel’s laugh – a laugh that made the question seem completely absurd now – just strengthened that thought.

“His boyfriend is a bit possessive so no.” She managed to say between laughter.

“Good.” He replied as Rachel continued to laugh a beautiful laugh.

The next week was a little tiring, but in a good, all-night-long-sex way. Not that Puck ever had the chance to have sex with her. Whenever he arrived at his apartment, he would realize that he was more preoccupied with making his company enjoyable and pleasant than wondering how he would convince her to come home with him. He would always tell himself before he went, “This is the night, Puckerman! You _will_ get laid!” Then Rachel would meet him with an itinerary of special tent secrets she was dying to show off. He would forget all his plans to focus on hers. And on her. Her smile. Her adorable giggle. That one time he held her adorable hands. Her voice. God, her voice was sent from the Lord Above.

One night, Rachel had brought him to a small tent at the far end of the circus. For a second he remembered what he wanted to do with her. The passageway was dim. The air was warm, warmer still when he wrapped his arm around her waist. He was about to murmur a suggestion into her ear when she said. “Here’s my tent.”

“Your tent?” He was getting a little more stimulated by the thought.

“Yeah,” she smiled, missing his tone, “Poppet and Widget helped me make it.” This stopped Puck in his tracks. Rachel took his hand and walked out of his embrace. “Come in, I’m very proud of it and I want you to see.”

She dragged him through the entrance and he was met with a vacant room. It wasn’t _empty_. There were various chairs and tables along the edges of the tent. Rachel took a small step up a platform of smooth black panels with white rivets. The taps of her heels echoed. Soon, music started playing. No instruments, just the familiar harmony of Rachel’s voice, multiplying and overlapping one another. A song began. Rachel didn’t have to open her mouth. She turned in a slow circle as she listened to an enticing acapella made entirely of her sweet voice. Puck’s earlier fire dimmed. It was not, surprisingly, frustrating to him at all.

“It’s not much but people come when they’re overwhelmed, either by life or the circus, or they come because they want a tent where they can rest their feet and listen to music. Or they just want to listen to me sing nonstop.” Rachel smiled proudly, putting her hands on her hips.

Puck realized that he wanted to do that last one too. “I think it’s cool.” He said as he followed her up the platform.

“Most of the time, people use this place to dance...” Rachel glanced at the platform, blushing.

Puck chuckled and went with it. He bowed slightly, extending his hand. “May I have this dance?”

Rachel took Puck’s hand and curtseyed. “Of course you may, Noah.” She’d always wanted to dance with someone other than a friend in her own tent.

They put their hands in the appropriate places. Puck was nervous. He hadn’t been nervous in a very long time. He was sure he knew the basics but then he was afraid he might step on Rachel’s foot and break it. Instead of diving into his worry, he pretended he was good at this and started dancing with the same cocky smile that had been on his face the whole night. Rachel, on the other hand, focused on not melting under his touch and gaze.

“There’s another thing the tent does.” Rachel said.

“What?”

“Look around you.”

Puck didn’t notice how his eyes never moved from Rachel’s until he did as he was told and saw a translucent crowd dancing around them. It consisted of different kinds of people. Some Puck knew from walking around the circus – concession stand people, the ticket girl, and the illusionist were few examples. That was how Puck knew they weren’t ghosts. Others were clearly patrons of the circus, _rêveurs_ and otherwise. There were kids dancing with one another or running around. There were couples in an embrace, swaying to their own version of the song. One or two couples were dancing like they were in a ballroom dance competition, doing it with so much ease and confidence.

“Wow.” Puck breathed. Rachel’s heart tried to fly out of her chest and she felt so silly. How could he elicit so much from her by doing so little? How could old, frivolous feelings be reignited to such a degree after so much time had passed? Rachel sighed at herself. This was how it was for a girl like her. When someone as attractive as Puck showed interest, she couldn’t help by throw herself into it full-force. Thankfully Puck had reached that point where he wasn’t of thinking of just sleeping with her and walking away.

At least she hoped.

And she hoped right, in a way. Puck didn’t know it yet but his actions were speaking for his feelings.

Two similar looking redheads swung by them, dancing effortlessly. They nodded at Rachel, and she reciprocates. Then they smile at Puck, whose eyebrows furrow. “Are they here?”

“No. But they can act like they are. They don’t speak but – I’m not sure how to explain this – it’s like they’re _aware_ of anyone’s presence in the tent. It can be creepy or fun depending on how you think of it.” Rachel answered, watching the after image of her friends pass. “They say that the ghosts of the circus come by sometimes.” She added in the hopes of keeping Puck interested.

It wasn’t necessary, but she didn’t know that.

“Man, this circus gets weirder and weirder.” Puck commented. “Who are the redheads?”

“Penelope Clarke and Winston Murray. They own part of the circus. They’re twins and Penelope is married to the proprietor, Bailey.” Just then, Widget faded into the stripes of the tent and was replaced with a blond man in an old-fashioned suit. Rachel smiled as the image of Poppet smiled brighter. “It’s never the same person twice.” She continued. “No two projections would ever be alike. And your own projection won’t appear if you yourself are around.”

“Does this mean we’re going to be part of the projections once we’re done?” Puck asked.

“Yes.” Rachel felt giddy at the thought of other people seeing them dancing this way.

“The twins helped you make this?” Puck glanced over the ceiling where a chandelier of pure white hung.

“Yeah.” Rachel replied, staring at Puck’s handsome face. “What do you think?”

“It’s pretty cool.” Puck repeated, facing Rachel again.

“Just cool?” Rachel smirked.

“Well, it’s no Labyrinth.”

“True.” They shared a laugh. Through the nights, they shared many things – laughter, smiles, food, drinks, clouds. But one thing they haven’t shared was the one thing on their minds at this very moment.

“It’s amazing. I don’t know how you did it. I don’t even think I _want_ to know how. All I gotta say is that it’s perfect for this circus. Like you.” Puck said with more sincerity than he thought he was capable of. _What are you doing to me, Rachel Berry?_

That puddle Rachel didn’t want to become the whole time they were dancing? She became that anyway. From the way her smile lit up her entire face and the way her grip on Puck eased so she could caress him said it all. “I’m going to kiss you now.” She blurted. She was far too happy to care about how stupid she sounded.

Puck’s lips were already halfway there. “Good. I was wondering when you’d do that.” He murmured. Then they shared a kiss.

As soon as they closed their eyes, the projections disappeared and the music filled the empty space. The tent’s opening shut by Rachel’s desperate inner cries of privacy, of nothing to ruin this moment for them – for her.

Puck’s arms were tight around Rachel’s waist and Rachel clung to his shoulders. Although Rachel has had her share of kisses, she let Puck take the lead on this one. She lost herself in his touch. She felt everything. His hands running up her back to thread his fingers through her hair. His lips eagerly moving with her own. His muscles tensing as she sought support for her weakened knees. Puck’s kiss was fire, igniting every nerve in Rachel’s body. The fire turned into light and Rachel was dizzy and blind with it.

Puck was blushing. He knew it was a normal bodily reaction when a person kissed another person they liked but this was different. He _felt_ like he was blushing. In the beginning, he knew what he was feeling. He knew what he wanted to feel. He wanted heat. He wanted passion. He wanted to finally feed his craving for Rachel Berry. He wanted his desire to translate then transfer so he could move along to satisfy a more private craving. He knew by the way Rachel’s lips melded with his, and the way her body was pressed against him in such a way that if he let go she would fall, that Rachel wanted him as much as he wanted her, if not more.

But then, the heat flickered and dimmed, not by much but enough to be noticed. It turned gentle. Puck’s cheeks were warm as Rachel’s hands went up to cup his cheeks. His heart stuttered to an unfamiliar beat. That beat turned to a more confusing tone when they pulled away and he saw the happy, dopey expression on Rachel’s face.

His mouth parted with surprise. He wanted to kiss her again and so he did. Once. Softly. Quickly. Rachel’s hands slid from his face and he found himself reaching for them. This was new. This was different.

He liked it at the same time was threatened by it. Had he changed? Did Rachel put a spell on him? Was he his own person still? Were these feelings real? These questions were valid. After all, they were in a circus where the carousel animals seemed to be alive and a garden of ice stood in a tent all year long.

As Rachel repositioned them to their dance, still smiling like she’d won the lottery, Puck knew that there was no way this girl was one for deception of any kind. She’d told the truth when the circus left. She was always frank when Puck did something she didn’t approve of. And why waste time showing him around, being nice, when she could literally (though there was no concrete proof) bewitch him?

The projections returned. The song changed. Rachel waited for Puck to lead the dance as he led the kiss. Puck pressed another kiss on her forehead before dancing again.

When he got home, he stayed up, figuring out what had happened. Then he cursed. At himself. At the ceiling. At the darkness. He had work in a few hours and he was already on his final warning. If he got fired, it would probably take a while for him to get another job.

+

Rachel had a lot of free time. Bailey always allowed it whenever they were in New York or any place where musicals abounded. They would put up a sign with a “vocal rest” excuse. Really, this was Rachel’s chance to enjoy the performances.

Nowadays, Rachel was using this time to chase an old dream that was no longer fulfilled by performing in _The Circus of Dreams_. For months now she’d been planning to settle in New York and join the stage. The circus was, naturally, supportive. Her place there was a spectacular thing to have on her resumé. She would always hold back laughter whenever the person she was auditioning for would do a double take.

Puck’s presence in the city was a happy bonus. Half a sign. If it went well with him, she would consider turning him into a full-fledged sign from the universe telling her she was on the right track.

So far, it’d been going great. He wasn’t such a bad guy after all, though a few crude and crass quirks would surface from time to time, like that time he asked her if there were any steamy sex memories trapped in one of the bottles of Widget’s tent – Bedtime Stories. They weren’t frequent enough to warrant some red flags. He was more adventurous than she was, that was for sure. He convinced her to jump from the very top of the Cloud Maze more than once. He joined the fire dancers when they offered him the chance. He called out playful jabs to Merlin during his performance that made Merlin himself laugh.

Rachel didn’t think she’d ever have more fun with a man. She found herself saying yes to more things when she was with him and all her friends thought that was a good thing so she decided to say yes more even when he wasn’t around.

And that kiss. The way he kissed and the way she’d felt during it was nothing she thought would ever happen.

She thought about it more than she wanted to. She thought about it instead of sleeping. She thought about it whenever her lips were near anything warm. She thought about it while she performed. And, to be honest, that made her love ballads more powerful. If nothing else, Puck gave her material and she should consider herself lucky.

But this wasn’t luck. Real luck was if Puck became more than just someone she kissed and liked.

During an inclement weather problem, the circus was closed for the night. Rachel decided to explore New York for a bit after watching _Wicked_ for the fifteenth time. With a sense of longing as she walked down Broadway and Times Square, she resigned herself with a sigh. She’d done all she could. She went to every casting call, auditioned for any role that had at least two solos, and spent all her free time perfecting her skills. All she had to do now was wait for a response.

Despite everyone saying otherwise and her place in the circus, she still prepared herself for the very real chance that she might not be good enough for Broadway. There was more to shows than singing. There were better actors and better dancers. She wasn’t the prettiest girl either. (She often doubted Puck’s feelings for her or his reasons why he even looked her way.) She knew that no one could replace her in the circus, Bailey and Poppet assured her whenever she was down, but she was beginning to dream new dreams.

It wouldn’t be so bad, being a constant fixture in the circus. Some of the performers had been around for longer than possible and they still said they wouldn’t have any other job in the world, no matter how much more others would pay them.

As the wind picked up, she knew she needed to find shelter, and she did in the form of a small café near the end of the city. She came in a second before Poppet’s pouring rain prediction came true. It wasn’t very warm so she kept her coat. She ordered hot chocolate and a slice of cheesecake and found a tiny seat near a window. Before she could sit down, a little girl came up to her and asked for autograph, being one of the girls she sang to last night at the circus. She smiled and talked to the girl as she signed. When the little girl left, she sat down. For a few moments she stared into space, thinking of how many days are left until the circus would leave, thinking of all the auditions she was hoping to hear back from before they left, thinking about Puck.

Then she heard him.

Rachel turned her head and found the familiar mohawk right by the counter. He was flirting with the barista as she put whip cream on what must’ve been her hot chocolate. Jealousy shot through her as she glared at the two of them laughing and _touching_ each other. He took the tray of cake and chocolate from the counter and she saw him wink at the barista. Rachel nearly threw the table.

“Hey, babe.” Puck said, grinning at her. It took her a full one second (one second too long) to get away from her glaring-at-the-barista moment and turned to him with a sheepish smile.

“What?” She asked as Puck grin broadened. He sat down as he set down the tray.

“Are you jealous?” He said with a knowing smirk on his face. All Rachel wanted to do right now was wipe that expression off his face with her fist.

She huffed indignantly. “What? No!”

“We’re past lying to each other, Rach.” Puck teased, nudging his foot against hers. She rolled her eyes and he felt slightly annoyed. He took her hot chocolate and her cheesecake from the tray and onto the table. “You know,” he began, “you have the exact same look on your face that her girlfriend has whenever we joke around. It’s funny.”

Rachel kicked herself for being jealous. _Of course_ the barista had a girlfriend. _Of course_ Puck was friends with them. “Sorry.” She mumbled. The guilt was right on the heels of her embarrassment.

“It’s cool. I never told you about her.” He leaned against the chair. “And I didn’t know you were coming. Did you miss me that much?”

Rachel laughed. “I didn’t know you worked here. Maybe it’s just fate.”

Despite the jest in her tone, Puck couldn’t help but indulge in the idea that they were fated for one another. He felt like he was a character in a bad rom-com he was “forced to watch”. He quickly dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Whatever you say, babe. Do you want me to introduce you two?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Later. We get off our shift in twenty more minutes. Afterwards I could,” he raised an eyebrow suggestively as he stood up, “ _show_ you around.” As _much_ as she wanted to, she didn’t think she was really ready for being _shown_ around in a very Puck way. But she laughed – not only because she liked flirting with him, that she liked him, but because it was just so funny when he said it. Funny because the butterflies in her stomach somehow came in contact with her throat, their wings tickling ever so slightly so she would start to giggle. Puck continued to smile. It couldn’t go farther than this.

“Enjoy your cheesecake.” He said before going back to work.

It was still raining hard after their shift but they passed the time by talking. As soon as Puck introduced her to Jade, Rachel felt sillier for being jealous of her. She gushed about her girlfriend any chance she got. Jade would also mention how Puck mention Rachel at work whenever the circus came up. So much so that Jade brought her girlfriend to Rachel’s tent a few times to dance and be cute, then seeing Puck and Rachel’s projections dancing around.

“It was like we were there with you. The tension was so real and thick you could cut it with a spoon.” Jade said.

“Shouldn’t you be cuddling with Ambra or else one of you will shrivel and die?” Puck said through his smile.

Jade laughed. “You’re the first girl to ever make him act the way he’s acting now.” To that, Rachel’s face turned red, cursing the bright lights of New York for the first time.

“Goodbye, Jade.”

Jade took out her umbrella and opened it. “Don’t stay up, you two. Or stay up, I don’t care. I’ll be with Ambra tonight.” Jade winked at Rachel. The idea made Rachel want to giggle like a child that learned to laugh for the first time. She buried her face in Puck’s arm.

When Jade turned the corner, Rachel bravely wrapped an arm around Puck’s waist. Puck held her shoulders. Rachel smiled at him. “Now what?” She asked.

“We wait until I can bring you anywhere.” Puck smiled back.

They waited for the rain to die down into a drizzle, Rachel talking about all the musicals she’d watched the past week and Puck wanting Rachel listen to some songs he wrote for her tent. Once the rain eased up, they started walking. It was a very innocent walk (as innocent as it could get with Puck). He showed her around the neighborhood and he seemed to know the fastest way to Broadway, Times Square, and Central Park – they went to all of those places. Rachel was used to being awake at this time but Puck was drifting in and out of conversation the way he always did at the end of his visits at the circus. She decided to bring him home.

“Stay with me tonight.” He whispered into her hair as they neared his apartment building.

Rachel’s mind jumped to the sum of adding Puck and an empty apartment. “Noah, I –”

“No, no.” He countered, holding both of her shoulders. She stared up at him and he stared back with half closed eyes. His filter was fading fast and he couldn’t stop what he was saying. “We – we don’t have to do it. We don’t have to have sex.” He ran a hand through her hair and rested on her cheek. She quivered under his touch. “Just sleep with me, just let me hold you under the blanket, feel you beside me, be there when I wake up. Just sleep with me tonight, Rachel.” He didn’t know what kind of shit he was saying. It just felt right to say those words. Rachel leaned up, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him very, very lightly. Puck wrapped a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. He smiled an encouraging smile and they met in the middle of another kiss.

They walked up to apartment 3F. There they kissed some more, starting from the moment Puck closed the door. He whirled Rachel around and pressed her against it. He kissed her sleepily, not bothering to try and stick his tongue down her mouth like he would if he was more awake. He kissed her softly as he pushed her coat off her lithe shoulders, as she kicked her heels off, and as he pulled his feet away from his sneakers. He brought her to the room quickly, not wanting to be separated from those lips any longer than thirty seconds. They fell into the bed and, with a barely hidden giggle, she pulled him into the kiss again. They rolled in the sheets, making out like teenagers, for what seemed like hours and neither of them realized when they fell asleep.

The sun beat down on Puck’s eyes. He shifted in the bed, scrunching his face, turning away from the offending brightness. His arm suddenly rested on another form. It took him a moment to remember how to open his eyes and then he saw Rachel, resting beside him. The second he shifted again, she opened her eyes, already alert. “Good morning.” She whispered. He didn’t say anything, he just kissed her. He felt her smile against him and she pressed her hand on his face.

They pulled away, breathless. Puck reached up to hold the hand on his face and they smiled. “You know…” He wondered aloud, bringing their hands between them. Rachel made an inquiring sound, making him continue. “You have really cute hands.”

“Thank you, I suppose.” She chuckled. “You…have a strange taste in the morning.”

Puck bit down his lips, a little ashamed, then realized he had no choice in the matter. “Well, you’re the one who kissed me before I even had the chance to brush.”

Rachel laughed.

Then they walked to the kitchen to make breakfast. They spent most of the morning together, eating, singing new songs, kissing some more. Rachel had to leave before noon to prepare herself for her night’s performance, taking with her some of Puck’s songs that were unabashedly inspired by her.

They did not think about Rachel’s more permanent departure with the circus.

For the rest of the day, Puck had a smile on his face. He tried not to think about the circus leaving with Rachel. Any day now, he knew that it would. But he didn’t want to think about it because thinking about it hurt.

Puck didn’t _do_ hurt.

Rachel did though. Men came and went during the time between now and the first time she met Puck. She knew what it was like to have someone be better than her in terms of looks and personality. (Her talent was rarely questioned.) She didn’t know where Puck stood on the matter. Would they continue their relationship? Talk through letters? Through e-mails? Would they last long that way? Honestly, she wasn’t sure. Puck was a physical man. She could go some time without being intimate with anyone since she didn’t experience anything below the waist until she was in her twenties, unlike Puck.

But she supposed she should be happy that it happened anyway. If she and Puck were to last, it would happen. If they weren’t, then that would happen too. Much like Broadway. Acceptance was preferable to rejection, but either result was fine.

Rachel found that there was safety in the middle. Less heartbreak. Less tears. Unless there was a clear, advantageous shift to one side then she would throw herself into that situation whole-heartedly.

This shift happened that night.

+

Puck stood on the empty grounds, looking at the green, green grass. It was as if the circus never came. It left like it just vanished into thin air.

Who knew when he would see Rachel again? Who knew what he would be like when that time came? How old was he going to be? Puck tried to shrug it off again. He did it with all the other women he slept with (albeit he didn’t really _sleep_ with Rachel but still) why couldn’t he do it with her? He had to give it up and get over it, screw the next girl he found just to clear his thoughts. Again, it started to rain a little bit, reminding him of two days before when they slept in his bed and made breakfast the next morning. He sighed. He took one last look at the empty lot and started the slow walk back to the city.

“Noah.” He stopped in his tracks, he slowly looked up to see Rachel, standing there with an umbrella up and ready. Puck wanted to scream, unsure if it was in surprise or fear or joy.

“You’re still here…” He said, surprised. “But…” He glanced at the empty lot behind him. “The circus…”

Rachel shook her head. “They left without me.”

“But you said goodbye last night?” Was it a dream? Did Puck just dream that part?

Rachel chuckled. “I wanted to surprise you.” Her smile fell a little and licked her lips. “I guess…That was a dumb idea. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. That was stupid. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, don’t apologize.” He ducked under umbrella, holding her face carefully, like she was a mirage brought on by sleep deprivation. That one misstep might cause her to disappear. “But I thought…I thought your career came first.”

She smiled and put her free hand over his, proving she wasn’t a mirage. “Last night when we said goodbye, I walked back to my room to find the proprietor, his wife, and a man in a suit. I haven’t told you that I was auditioning my butt off for every show I could manage and it paid off. I got the lead in a revival of _Funny Girl_! The first musical I watched and my favorite! Can you believe it?” She was shaking with happiness. Tears started to overflow as the emotion filled her entire body.

Puck wiped the tears away, hysterical laughter bubbling just below his throat. “So you’re going to be on Broadway.” He said, as if he didn’t hear anything. He just wanted to be sure that this wasn’t some dream he was dreaming and that he was really just passed out on the sidewalk.

“Yes, I’m staying and I’m going to be on Broadway.” She nodded, choked up laughter managing to squeeze through her. His hands fell to her waist and pulled her into a searing kiss, more passionate than the ones they’ve ever shared. He was allowed to now. As much as he liked a challenge, someone hard to get, it felt so much better to get someone who wanted to get him back and keep them. Rachel giggled against his lips and held his face in her hands, dropping the umbrella. Their blood burned with familiar heat and they were panting hard as they pulled away. Their cheeks burned and Rachel fumbled for her umbrella.

Puck wrapped an arm around her waist and took the umbrella from her cute hands, holding it over their heads. “So, where are you staying?” He asked.

“I was given an apartment upon accepting the role. They were very generous and eager to have me stay. It’s a couple of blocks away from Broadway.” She blushed. “Do you want me to,” she wrapped an arm around his waist as well, “show you around?” Puck laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you for getting this far! I hope you liked it! I like it. Anyway, I wanted to take this time to tell you that there are crumbs of all three stories (even the unfinished, barely started Solangelo one) all over each other so bear with me. Also, if you're part of the Glee, Merlin, Percy Jackson, AND, of course, the Night Circus, I hope I did this well. And I hope you lose your mind because if I didn't write this and I saw this crossover I'll be like HOLY SHIT I WILL READ THIS ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT OH FUCKING YES.


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